Payton Starwalt can make three-pointers in her sleep.
Halfway through her high school basketball career, the West Albany rising junior has made 191 triples – many of them from far beyond the arc – putting her on pace to break the career state record.
But the focus for Starwalt this summer has been rounding out the other parts of her game. The 5-foot-6 ½ point guard has high aspirations for a college career, and with her slight frame, she knows she must add strength and physicality.
“I started hitting the weight room a little bit,” Starwalt said. “One of my big goals is to be ready from Day 1 in college, have no weaknesses, basically. My defense and rebounding, I kind of used to get pushed around, but getting in the weight room has definitely helped me.”
Oregon Prep Girls Hoops ranks Starwalt as the state's top college prospect for the Class of 2027. Jr. All-Star Basketball rates her as the No. 52 junior in the nation, and No. 6 point guard. She has 17 college scholarship offers, according to her father, Ryan Starwalt, her club coach with FBC Oregon Tropics.
Her reputation as a sharpshooter has spread rapidly. Opponents routinely stack their defenses to stop her.
“Teams throw a lot at her, so she's having to navigate that, which is good,” Ryan Starwalt said. “I don't know if she realized what it was going to be like. Social media has helped her with recruiting, but at the same time, people know about her, and they want to shut her down.”
Payton said she welcomes the challenge.
“I like it because my teammates get really good looks,” she said. “It's not a great strategy just because my teammates are so good. They realize it's a bad idea pretty quickly.”
Payton started her high school career at Crescent Valley, where she shot 91 of 199 from three-point range (45.7 percent) as a freshman. She transferred to West Albany as a sophomore and shot 100 for 224 from deep (44.6 percent). At this rate, she will overtake the career state record of 359 three-pointers, set by La Salle Prep's Taycee Wedin (2014-18).
She was the catalyst for a West Albany team that went 20-8 and made the 5A quarterfinals. She averaged 22.0 points, 7.0 assists and 3.5 steals, shooting 90.0 percent on free throws.
Her shooting range is so deep, she often catches defenders flat-footed when she pulls the trigger.
“Last weekend she made 30 threes in a tournament, and I bet probably 20 of them were from 26, 27, 28 feet,” Ryan Starwalt said. “And the other ones were step-backs from the line. She doesn't really get open ones at the line.
“She's gotten to where she doesn't care anymore. She'll shoot from anywhere she wants, whenever she wants. We use it as best we can do our team's advantage.”
Payton is a crafty ballhandler and passer, sometimes setting up teammates by slinging one-handed, cross-court passes. By getting stronger, it will allow her skills to better shine through.
“I feel like my physicality is getting better,” she said. “I'm taking better care of the ball, my passing's getting stronger, I'm shooting from farther out. Everything I did before, I've kind of taken another step up.”
She also is getting more confident driving through contact.
“Just getting to the line more,” she said. “They don't call things when you just kind of flick it up there, but when you go up strong, they definitely call things a lot more.”
Colorado State, Fresno State and Montana are among Payton's scholarship offers. Higher-profile programs such as Colorado, Stanford and Iowa are showing interest, but have not offered. She plans to visit Stanford in August and Iowa during the football season.
She is flattered by the attention.
“Oh my gosh, I am just so grateful that I get to even have these conversations,” she said. “I can't believe it. It's been a dream of mine since like the fifth grade.
“For a while there, I was kind of thinking that no one would want me, but now it's like, multiple people want me. I have no preference level-wise. I just want to go wherever the coach believes in me the most and I can be myself.”
Ryan Starwalt is keeping the college interest in perspective.
“Especially with her size, it has to be a perfect fit for her to go to a really big school,” he said. “They'd have to really want a 5-6 ½ point guard. She looks like she's a 12- or 13-year-old, body-wise. She can do 12 pull-ups and 25 push-ups, but it doesn't look like she's strong at all.”
Payton draws inspiration from the play of WNBA star Caitlin Clark, also a sharpshooter who gets smothered by multiple defenders.
“I like to watch her games and take notes on how she sets people up, and gets her shot up,” she said. “They put the best athletes in the world on her and she's still able to do what she does. I'm kind of trying to build off her. Definitely some parts I do try to copy.”
jerryu@osaa.org
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